As the show kicks off in Perth, here’s what Dave Simon and Johnny North were expecting
By the time you’re reading this, WWE Crown Jewel 2025 is already underway in Perth, Australia. Last night on Wrestling Uncensored, Dave Simon and Johnny North broke down what they expected from this glorified spot show – and Dave didn’t mince words about what this event really represents.
The Crown Jewel 2025 Championship Matches
Seth Rollins vs. Cody Rhodes
The big one. The world champion versus the undisputed champion, fighting for a ring because apparently that’s what we’re doing now. Dave was adamant about one thing: Seth HAS to win this match.
“If Seth doesn’t beat Cody here, they just need to stop pushing Seth forever,” Dave argued. “He beat Cody three times. Three big matches. Cody beat him. Seth has not beaten Cody since Cody came back as American Nightmare Cody Rhodes.”
The storyline heading in showed friction between Seth and Paul Heyman, with Seth doubting himself and Heyman questioning whether he picked the right guy. But Dave saw through it—he thinks it’s all a setup for Heyman to help Seth win, probably with interference from the Bronson crew.
Johnny agreed Seth needed the win more than Cody, though he noted Cody already has one ring and is looking for another. The prediction? Seth wins dirty, furthering the storyline toward his eventual match with CM Punk at Saturday Night’s Main Event on November 1st.
Dave’s take on the whole thing? “This whole Seth title run is just waiting for the match against Roman Reigns.”
Stephanie Vaquer vs. Tiffany Stratton
The women’s crown jewel championship pits Raw’s Stephanie Vaquer against SmackDown’s Tiffany Stratton. Both hosts leaned toward Vaquer getting the win.
“I think Stephanie Vaquer because they seem to be pushing her harder right now,” Dave explained. “She’s newer. They want to establish her more.”
Johnny made a key point: “I don’t believe she’s actually defended the championship yet, right? So I think they’re gonna need to establish her, and they can’t really do that if they have her lose in her first big match.”
The logic makes sense – Vaquer needs this more than Tiffany does to cement her place on the main roster.
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The Nostalgia Matches
John Cena vs. AJ Styles
This one’s purely for the feels, as Dave acknowledged. It’s a show of respect for AJ Styles, who announced that 2026 will be his last year in wrestling. But Dave couldn’t hide his lack of enthusiasm.
“If you want to see a good John Cena AJ Styles match, they’re out there,” he said. “I think they’re gonna try hard, but I don’t see them being able to top what they’ve done in the past.”
The fundamental problem? There’s nothing on the line.
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“It’s just like hey, let’s have a fun match for the fans and let’s have a good match, and it’ll be good,” Dave continued. “But you know neither of them is physically where they were when they did it in their prime.”
Johnny echoed the concern: “Whether Cena wins or AJ wins, it doesn’t really change anything. There’s no stakes involved.”
The prediction is obvious – Cena wins at minus-2500 odds, the biggest favorite on the card. As Johnny noted, “I think Cena is probably the biggest lock.”
Roman Reigns vs. Bronson Reed (Australian Street Fight)
Dave was so disappointed that this match was even happening.
“I was so disappointed when they announced this match,” he said. “That they’re still going on this Bronson Reed Roman Reigns thing when we can all see that it’s leading towards Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns.”
The frustration is understandable – Roman already beat Bronson at Clash in Paris back in August. Now they’re doing it again, just because it’s a street fight and they’re in Bronson’s hometown.
“He already beat him,” Dave emphasized. “But now it’s a street fight. It’s just like what? Why? Like you know where it’s headed. Can’t we just skip to the end already?”
Still, the tribal chief will prevail. Roman is the favorite at minus-250, and both hosts expect him to win, even though it’s in Australia. The match should be fun with weapons and hardcore spots, but as Johnny warned, “Just don’t make it so long.”
Rhea Ripley & Iyo Sky vs. The Kabuki Warriors
In what should be the easiest prediction of the night, Rhea and Iyo Sky take on Asuka and Kairi Sane. Dave thinks the match will be good despite the awful build.
“The build to this has been awful,” he said bluntly. “It’s just horrible stuff, horrible promos each week.”
The strange emotional storyline with Iyo Sky and all the drama has been “really, really lowering the value of Rhea Ripley, their top star,” according to Dave.
But the outcome is clear: “Crown Jewel 2025 is in Australia—Rhea’s Australian. Everybody loves Rhea. This is a show for the fans in Australia to make them happy.”
What This Show Really Is
Dave didn’t hold back on what Crown Jewel 2025 represents – and it’s not pretty.
“This is a glorified spot show,” he declared. “A spot show is a show that is designed to appeal to one crowd one night for one event with nothing built in really and nothing afterwards, meaning anything.”
He broke down why: For three out of the five matches, the participants will have no interactions in the upcoming weeks. Cody and Seth will go back to their separate brands. Same for Stephanie and Tiffany. Same for Cena and AJ.
“I don’t care if they call it a PLE, I don’t care if they sell tickets for twenty thousand dollars ringside,” Dave said. “This is a glorified spot show by the WWE. You know it and I know it.”
Johnny agreed, noting that with the show airing at 8 AM Eastern time, “they’re not taking this completely seriously because they know most people aren’t gonna be watching this live.”
As Dave summarized: “Let’s just give some Australians a good time.”
The Gunther-Cena Future
Looking ahead, there’s talk that Gunther will be John Cena’s final opponent, and Dave is all for it.
“Gunther beats Cena on his way out,” Dave said simply.
Johnny liked the idea of having a tournament or multi-man match to determine who gets the honor of facing Cena in his last game. “There is a bit of an honor to that, prestige to it, to face Cena in his last match,” he noted.
The booking makes sense – have Gunther beat Cena, then move him into a program with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania to rebuild him after losing the World Heavyweight Championship.
Other Wrestling Notes
Santos Escobar Re-Signs
The big news of the week was Santos Escobar re-signing with WWE, which Dave greeted with his trademark enthusiasm: “Everybody was wondering, will Santos Escobar remain with WWE, and we got our answer this week, John. Yes, he will. The world has rejoiced.”
The sarcasm was thick. Dave discovered Escobar is 41 years old, which surprised him. “I thought he was like a younger guy with some kind of promise. Like maybe in a few years he’ll turn into something, but at 41 he kind of is what he is.”
And what is he? “A guy who isn’t particularly physically imposing, doesn’t really cut a promo that is good or is really understandable in English a lot of the time, and his in-ring is okay, but I could think of 30 guys that are better.”
Dave’s assessment: “He’s a less exciting version of Andrade basically.”
The Bloodline Drama
One thing Dave IS enjoying? The Roman Reigns and Usos family drama is playing out on Raw.
“I’ve enjoyed the Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso family drama on Raw,” he said. “It’s got a different flavor now, and I like it. There are different dynamics between the three guys.”
The tension between the brothers, with Roman being hard on Jimmy while pushing Jey to be more like him, has created compelling television. As Dave put it: “It’s the most compelling thing they’re doing.”
Johnny agreed: “Unlike a lot of storylines we see on Raw, it’s actually intriguing to watch. Thank goodness we have the bloodline back on television.”
The Women’s Division Mess
Dave had strong words about the current state of women’s wrestling, particularly the tag team division. Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss are the women’s tag team champions, but they never defend the titles.
“Charlotte and Alexa Bliss do not defend their tag team titles,” Dave noted. “They do promos on SmackDown almost every week… they just talk about wrestling them potentially in the future for some reason.”
Meanwhile, actual tag teams exist on Raw – Bailey and Lyra Valkyria, Asuka and Kairi Sane, Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley – but the champions are stuck on SmackDown, where there is no division.
The Bailey-Lyra storyline also earned Dave’s ire: “We are watching Bailey and Lyra Valkyria do their whole thing with Bailey sometimes hating Lyra and sometimes being her best friend. What is that? That’s been truly awful and really disappointing because I want to enjoy Bailey, and I have not been.”
The Bottom Line
As Crown Jewel 2025 unfolds in Perth, the predictions are straightforward: Seth wins, Stephanie wins, Cena wins, Roman wins, Rhea wins. No title changes because no titles are at stake. No long-term storyline implications because this is a one-night stand for the Australian audience.
“No title changes. No titles are on the line,” Dave summarized. “Those rings don’t mean anything.”
Johnny’s assessment of the predictability: “Every match seems very predictable. That’s just the way it is when these kinds of shows happen.”
As Dave concluded, “This thing is at 8 AM on a Saturday. It’s 8 PM Eastern time on a Saturday night in Australia. This is a show for them.”
And really, that’s all it needs to be – even if Dave is calling it exactly what it is.
Wrestling Uncensored airs live Friday nights at 10 PM Eastern on the Ringside Report Network.
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